Spring-actuated animal snare



1954 J. R. HOUNSELL SPRING-ACTUATED ANIMAL SNARE Filed Nov. 24. 1950 INNENTORI JQMES R.HOUNSELL HIS TTY United St t s Pa e Ce D5293, 112i to the upper edge of the said frame so that when the frame is vertical, and imbedded in snow, the said snow supporting pad is horizontal. If, however, the trap is 2,696,063 5 1(ised (in uncoiered tgrollhnd, then a pallr of 11small blocks not i ustrate un er e pad, may e nt' ized to sup SPRING-ACTUATED ANIMAL SNARE port the frame in a vertical position.

At a point near the apex of the said triangular snow James R. Hounsell, St. Cyr Lake, Saskatchewan, Canada supporting Pad, a further eyelet or guideway 14 is 9 0 v 7- 300 fixed to the upper surface of said pad. App Navember 1 5 Sana] No 10 Threaded through the two eyelets or guideways 12 1 Claim. (CI. 43-87) and 14, is the snare cord or cable 15 having a snare loop 16 formed in the forward, free end of said cable or cord with loop thimble 16 in the form of a running noose. The other, or rearward end of said cord, or

My invention relates to snares for capturing animals, 15 cable, is bent around a thimble 17 which thimble is particularly to a spring-actuated snare of the character larger than the aperture in the eyelet 12 so that it acts herewithin described, an object of which is to provide asa stop and prevents the undesirable displacement of a device which seizes the body of the animal, rather the cable from the arm. A length of chain 18 is exthan a limb of such animal as in conventional traps. tended from said thimble to a toggle-end which is not A further object of my invention is to provide. a deillustrated but is conventional, and is intended for stakvice of the character herewithin described in which the ing to the ground or otherwise securing the snare to a operating parts are relieved of strain after having sprung, convenient limb or trunk.

thus prolonging the useful life of the snare. Triggering of the snare is provided by a linkage com- A still further object of my invention is to provide prising the trigger member 19 and snare-actuating trap a device of the character herewithin described which l as f t pad Said trigger is a member avoids dependence upon jaws, as in conventional traps, atively thin section in the form of a substantially right and thu prevent util ti n of the pelt, angled or bell crank, the free end being contra-angud yet another object of my invention is to provide latecl, at right angles, to form a trigger lip 21. A hinge a device of the character herewithin described which Pm 22 passes through an aperture provided for it in is simple and economical to manufacture and use, and the angle of the trigger, and in a corresponding point in is, otherwise, well suited to the purposes for which it is he aforementioned frame 1. The lower end of said intended, trigger 1s rounded and contains a hinge pm 22' by With the foregoing objects in view, and such other means f w ieh h r gg is pivotally g g h objects and advantages as will become apparent to those l af I m HtIOI ed foot pad 20 and adjacent to the skilled in the art to which this invention relates as this Inner end h o specification proceeds, my invention consists essential- The i foot P is all elongated strip With the forly in the arrangement and construction of parts all as W J Portion angled 0r flanged so that a relahereinafter more particularly described, reference bey flat shffaee 23 is Presented The rearmost P i h d to h accompanying d i i hi h; non of said foot pad is likewise flanged, but along the Figure l is a side elevation of my snare in situ, and 40 lower edge, and for a y Short diStance lihlla P in action; said action having been arrested in the view 111g short h ehceetive p so that hearing is illustrated just before completion of the springing of P 'P e agalhst the rearward edge 0f h a o h sham said trigger 19. Reference to Figure 1 will show that Figure 2 is a top plan view of my snare in the same the f 19 and the foot P 20 can he hinged With i i as i Fi 1 relation to one another in an upwardly direction but Figure 3 i a fragme tary perspective i f the that the stop 23' engaging the underside or rearward front end of the snare in the set position. edge P e hlhgihg ill the pp direction- Figure 4 is a side elevation of the trap but in the In opefahohi the p is Sell P in the W i a Su tsprung position, able location. The frame is imbedded in a vertical po- In the drawings like characters of reference indicate 0 h, so that the Wings 13 are p the Surface and corresponding parts i h difie -ent fi 5 stabilize the trap. Thus the foot pad upper surface M share i b il up upon a substantially upright, will be horizontal, and is likewise imbedded in the relatively rigid, strap, which constitutes the frame 1. shoW- The arm 8 is drawn wnw r ly n il he trig- This frame is of elongated, rectangular configuration, ger P 21 engages the forward and pp r edge 8' of one end of which has a projection 2 in angular relation h The sprlhg 4 is thereby n d, and tento the longitudinal axis f Said f a The Projection sioned. By the same means the snare cable 15 is slackcontains a relatively short closed slot 3, which is disfined, the e f loop 16 is formed and Supported P sed at th Same acute angle h the said longitudinal 1n the desired position adjacent to the foot pad 20. The axis. The end 2 of the fra i hi h i slot is thnnble 17 at the rearmost end of said cable will bear contained is trimmed parallel with the aforesaid slot. upon or against the rearward edge of the swivel The purpose of the Slot 3 will become evident when let 12. The toggle end of the chain 18 is snagged or it s observed that one attachment eye end of a tension staked to a gclnl spring 4 t sfllloopfid mtodsud slot, and s attached 3o g ggg gg g h 3 ehshal'ed i c l P e margm o e a oresai rame r0 ection surroun i 1 S Welg e Tesses Sai a i d ing the slot 3. p 1 causes the trigger to rotate clo kwise, thus releas iiig The other attachment eye end of the coil spring 4 arm 8. The spring 4 returns to its free, unextended is looped through the ring or lug of material 5 sup length and causes arm 8 to snap rearwardly in a radius rounding an aperture 6 provided in arm This arm centering about hinge pin 10. Due to the bearing of is. very ilnflar to the frame 1 and is likewise a Substam eyelet 12 against thimble 17, the cable 15 is also snapped l glly tfilglld strap Ctiafhelongatedb rectangulcalrd configura- 22:5 g g g f 2gl 1zh1m1hlfis1galswbfi1e1gl1t up sharpllly 1 n, e owe rounde; g 9 ggigz i g z gg i to afalrlllst the body of the animal and effectively sii re it. cerve a hinge pin 10. This pin pivotally attaches the f fgg z zw i the lemme frilme be brought up said arm to the aforesa1d frame, through a spacer washat the base of J; 1 gs g the ga 3 u crum en 18 er 11. At the outer, opposite end of the arm, an eyelet or guideway 12 is provided which protrudes laterally fr the urfa thereof mately 180 degrees so that the guideways 12 and 14 At the front end of the aforesaid frame, opposite and P 10 are Substantially in alignment, thus P to the slotted end, hereinbefore described, a snow supg undesirable movement of the arm 8 y tension on portlng pad or wing 13 is provided. This snow supthe snare wire 16 by the animal, the lower eye end porting pad is of triangular configuration, and is fixed attempt by the ensnared animal to escape and attendant straining upon the snare will be resisted by the chain end toggle and the attachment thereof to a stake or trunk or similar fixing means.

Since various modifications can be made in my invention as hereinabove described, and many apparently Widely different embodiments of same made within the spirit and scope of the claim without departing from such spirit and scope, it is intended that all matter contained in the accompanying specification shall be interpreted as illustrative only and not in a limiting sense.

What I claim as my invention is:

A trap or snare for animals comprising in combination an elongated, rectangular strap frame member, a guideway formed on the forward end of said frame member, an arm pivotally attached adjacent the opposite end of said frame member, a pivot extending through said arm and said frame member for said attachment, spring means extending between adjacent the outer end of said arm and the end of said frame mern ber ad acent to which said arm is attached, a bell crank tr gger pivotally attached to said frame member, a

trigger, said lip adapted to engage the outer forward end of said arm, a foot pad member extending forward of said frame member and being pivotally attached to the other end of said bell crank trigger, said foot pad member and said trigger lip coacting so that said trigger is disengaged from said arm when said foot pad member is depressed, a snare wire attached by one end thereof to the outer end of said arm and extending forwardly through said guideway, the noose of said snare wire being adapted to overlie said foot pad member, means transversely secured to the forward end of said frame member to maintain said trap vertically when in the set position, and the end of said frame member to which one end of said spring means is attached being provided with an elongated slot, said slot inclining upwardly and forwardly, the end of said spring means being slidably engageable within said slot, said point of attachment of said snare wire with said arm, said guideway, and said pivot adapted to align substantially when said trap is in the sprung position, thereby preventing undesirable closing of said trap by tension on said snare wlre.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

